Anger management is a force to
be reckoned with. Anderson &
Anderson, along with many other
anger management providers who
are certified under George
Anderson, are doing their best
to promote the anger management
movement. It should be made
clear to all providers, as well
as people who are interested in
becoming providers, that anger
management is useful for
training clients to excel in
four areas:
anger
management, stress management,
assertive communication,
and
emotional
intelligence. Anger
management is for clients who
have anger issues that have
caused them to be at odds with
their families, perfect
strangers, the justice system
(e.g., committing misdemeanors
that require them to pay heavy
fines or seek anger management
as an ultimatum), or with
themselves (if they believe it
is necessary to seek anger
management in order to improve
in the above four areas). With
this in mind, it behooves us to
explain what anger management
must not be used for.
Anger management is not a
suitable alternative to
psychotherapy. In fact, we need
to go as far as to say that it
would be irresponsible for an
anger management provider, or
any anger management
facilitator, to provide services
to those who are really in need
of psychotherapy, psychotropic
medication or hospitalization.
First of all, facilitators and
providers trained specifically
in anger management may not be
trained in psychotherapy. Second
of all, for those providers who
are licensed clinicians, they
tend to distinguish between the
two practices, which is
extremely important. Someone who
is not trained in psychotherapy
is not authorized to treat
clients in need of
psychotherapy. Furthermore, a
trained psychotherapist who is
also an anger management
facilitator and executive coach,
must know the signs that show
what the client needs
BEFORE making
the decision to provide anger
management services. Just so
that all are aware, let us take
the time to list some of the
needs that
MUST NOT
be addressed by anger management
classes.
The
“Suggested Guide for
Anger Management
(Facilitator’s Guide)”,
written by George Anderson,
M.S.W., BCD, CAMF, says that
“the following categories of
clients should be
excluded from
outpatient anger management
groups:
paranoid
clients, extremely narcissistic
clients, clients with
hypochondriac dispositions,
suicidal clients, brain-damaged
clients, psychotic or
sociopathic clients, and
actively-using alcoholics or
drug addicts” (page
9). Let’s say, for example, that
Mr. Green shows up in your
office and asks you if he can
enroll in your anger management
group. He follows this up with a
statement going something like
this: “My wife left me, and I’m
so angry without her. I think I
want to end it all.” The
provider should know right away
to tell the person that it would
be better if he sought a
psychiatric assessment. The
facilitator’s guide also points
out that it is advisable to have
someone licensed in mental
health work for your
organization as a consultant, if
you do not have any training in
psychotherapy. Please refer to
the anger management
facilitator’s guide for any
further information you may
need.
Rasheed Ahmed
Intern, Undergraduate Student
Anderson & Anderson
Anger Management Services
http://www.andersonservices.com/
